ponedeljek, 14. julij 2014

Homemade gnocchi with pesto / Domači njoki s pestom

I think it’s time for me to write something new over here. The sky is getting cleaned every day, rain is chasing us and I like it. Oh yeah, I love the sun & heat & YOLO (You Only Live Once) Summer spirit .... but when my skin starts to peel off because of sunburn and clothes are more wet than dry (due to sweating) .... a-a .... + I can eat more chocolate when it’s raining. Oh, like you're so perfect (and if you are, I don’t like you), I bet that you stuff your mouth with chocolate, when the temperature drops! =).

Those who follow me on Face thingy know, that I almost suffered from cerebral aneurysm, because I had the opportunity to prepare and photograph 5 recipes for the beach, which were published in a Slovenian magazine, called Beautiful & healthy.

The process itself was very glamorous. Oh do not be silly, the truth is, everything went wrong. I had a plan to prepare and photograph all 5 recipes in two days, 3 of them by the sea, and 2 by the lake. This opportunity didn’t come at perfect timing. Of course, I had a deadline for sending the material. I had a cold at that time and many other serious things on my mind. I don’t live by the sea, so I had to coordinate with Gasper in terms of driving there. On the D day the recipes OF COURSE took longer than expected, I didn’t have all the ingredients and there was ... RAIN! But Gasper and I still speeded to the seaside, and in between I cursed because of basil, I stared with tears in my eyes at the sky and checked lighting on my camera. Well, before I even reached the point of us leaving home, I went through a long list of things that I should take with me. And nevertheless forgot one thing .. smarty pants.

We dragged all that stuff to the beach, it stopped raining .... even the sun appeared! The ideal was that the beach was practically empty and not so ideal when it was no longer empty (I hope the devil takes you). When I realized that 500 images could be enough, I rescued Gasper from boring waiting and we had a beach picnic. We ate the food I took pics of (yaaay food!).

The next day a lot of things went wrong again. The selected location was filled with people and I don’t like that. It’ so annoying and weird if you all of a sudden place food like you're in a restaurant, with flowers and everything and then you take pics of it too. I had to improvise and change the location but I think that in the end everything functioned fine. It was not until the next day I photographed last recipe and I did that at home, on the terrace /I had no other choice).

These are common real stories behind food blogs. We all try to make our posts as if everything is perfect, filled with sunshine, calmness, relaxed atmosphere and achieved effortlessly. Effort is needed and often the perfect cake is surrounded by a world that is falling down. Decor is scattered everywhere, recipes fail, the light disappears too quickly and sometimes .... sometimes .... shhhhh ... don’t tell anyone ... sometimes .. I don’t feel like cooking or taking pics and I just don’t give a damn. It’s important to me that we bloggers are true, real, honest and say it as it is. I'd rather be me, than perfect. I personally find perfect people annoying and suspicious. Get your perfection somewhere else, we love real and genuine people over here! : P

I almost forgot, that it would be good if I wrote something about today's recipe. The fat person in me loves every dish that was invented in Italy (and everything that Italians created is fattening). I better not even start thinking about gnocchi. The refrigerator is full of vegetables, stick to the plan Neja! Well, these gnocchi were excellent and I would prefer jumping into the manure, instead of choosing something else for gnocchi than pesto. Pesto, pesto, pesto! Everyone should know how to prepare pesto. There you have it!

With love, Neja

PS-Thanks for the warm comments on my previous post. I took them to heart.

The Recipe

The process
1. Boil the potatoes whole until tender. Depending on the size of the potatoes, this could take 40 minutes. Drain the potatoes and allow them cool for a little while.
2. Peel the potatoes (holding the potatoes with a dish towel if necessary) and put them through a ricer.
3. Once you have riced all the potatoes, toss them in a large bowl with the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and crack in the whole egg.
4. Using a fork to start, then your hands, knead the egg into the potato mixture. Continue to knead into a smooth dough, adding more flour if necessary. A bit tacky is good; very sticky needs more flour.
5. On a well-floured board, cut pieces from the dough and roll into a rope. Cut the rope into 1-inch pieces.
6. Toss the finished gnocchi with a little more flour as you finish each rope and either cook immediately or freeze for future use.
7. To cook fresh gnocchi, bring a pot of water to a gentle boil. Add the fresh gnocchi and let cook about 4 minutes.
8. Gently lift the gnocchi out of the water with a slotted spoon. Toss with sauce and serve immediately.

The processs
Put the basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic and salt in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Slowly add 1/3 cup olive oil while the machine is running; scrape down the bowl and add 1 or 2 tablespoons more oil if needed, until pesto is creamy and blended.